The Urgent Mental Health Center (UMHC) is located onsite at VA Long Beach Medical Center. The Senior Social Worker functions as an integral member of UMHC, working together to maximize the Veteran's strengths and identified treatment goals. The Senior Social Worker requires specialized knowledge of psychiatric emergency assessment, suicide and homicide risk assessments, crisis intervention, chronic and acute mental health conditions, community resources, and appropriate treatment interventions.

Duties

VA Careers - Social Work: https://youtube.com/embed/enRhz_ua_UU Review a sample Total Rewards package for a VA Social Worker: https://www.vacareers.va.gov/Home/PdfViewer?issuu=social_worker_-_total_reward_of_a_va_career_flyerhttps://www.vacareers.va.gov/Home/PdfViewer?issuu=total_reward_of_a_allied_health_professions_va_ca Job Duties Include: Completes timely comprehensive assessments of mental health and psychosocial needs for Veterans presenting with urgent and/or emergent mental health conditions/symptoms. Assesses Veteran in collaboration with UMHC, other mental health programs such as BHIP, the Veteran, family members and significant others. Develops crisis management plans for immediate and follow-up care. Utilizes various treatment modalities such as individual, casework, community organization and community outreach activities to alleviate or remove problems that interfere with the Veteran's ability to improve functional levels. Works closely with other clinical programs (including inpatient and outpatient providers) that share in the care of the Veteran in pursuit of programmatic and treatment goals, maintains effective working relationships with other professional and administrative personnel throughout the healthcare system and the community. Provides education related to VA and community resources, entitlements, Advance Directives/Living Will and will refer Veterans/families to the appropriate interdisciplinary team member for identified health education needs. Provides Veterans and their caregivers with ongoing supportive counseling. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm Compressed/Flexible:Not Authorized Telework: Per management approval. This is not a remote position. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Basic Requirements Citizenship: Citizen of the United States. Licensure: Candidate must be licensed or certified by a state at the advanced practice level which included an advanced generalist or clinical examination, unless they are grandfathered by the state in which they are licensed to practice at the advanced practice level (except for licenses issued in California, which administers its own clinical examination for advanced practice) and they must be able to provide supervision for licensure. Education: Master's degree in social work (MSW) from a school of social work fully accredited by the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Graduates of schools of social work that are in candidacy do not meet this requirement until the school of social work is fully accredited. A doctoral degree in social work may not be substituted for master's degree in social work. Grade Determinations: GS-12 Senior Social Worker Experience: In addition to the basic requirements, applicants must have at least two years of experience post advanced practice clinical licensure and should be in a specialized area of social work practice of which, one year must be equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. In addition to the experience above, candidates must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Skill in a range of specialized interventions and treatment modalities used in specialty treatment programs or with special patient populations. This includes individual, group, and/or family counseling or psychotherapy and advanced level psychosocial and/or case management. Ability to incorporate complex multiple causation in differential diagnosis and treatment within approved clinical privileges or scope of practice. Knowledge in developing and implementing methods for measuring effectiveness of social work practice and services in the specialty area, utilizing outcome evaluations to improve treatment services and to design system changes. Ability to provide specialized consultation to colleagues and students on the psychosocial treatment of patients in the service delivery area, as well as role modeling effective social work practice skills. Ability to expand clinical knowledge in the social work profession, and to write policies, procedures, and/or practice guidelines pertaining to the service delivery area. Assignments. Senior social workers are licensed or certified to independently practice social work at an advanced level. Senior social workers typically practice in a major program area such as but not limited to: Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site; a Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Center, or a national VHA referral center, such as a national Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or a national Transplant Center, or other program areas of equivalent scope and complexity. The senior social worker may be assigned administrative responsibility for clinical program development and is accountable for clinical program effectiveness and modification of service patterns. Assignments include clinical settings where they have limited access to onsite supervision such as CBOCs or satellite outpatient clinics. The senior social worker collaborates with the other members of the treatment team in the provision of comprehensive health care services to Veterans, ensures equity of access, service, and benefits to this population, ensures the care provided is of the highest quality. The senior social worker provides leadership, direction, orientation, coaching, in-service training, staff development, and continuing education programs for assigned social work staff. They serve on committees, work groups, and task forces at the facility, VISN and national level, or in the community as deemed appropriate by the supervisor, Social Work Executive or Chief of Social Work Services. This assignment is to be relatively few in number based on the size of the facility/service and applying sound position management. References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G39 - Social Worker Qualification Standard. Physical Requirements: Must be in overall good health, able to sit at a desk working at a computer, engage in light to moderate physical activity including sitting, walking, bending, and carrying supplies. Applicants must be able to perform primarily light and sedentary duties with occasionally moderate physical demands, exercise patience, and control emotions, with reasonable accommodation, if necessary, without endangering the health and safety of the applicant or others. The position requires walking throughout the Medical Center and clinics, community agencies/court rooms, standing for extended periods of time, and involves sitting at a computer and in counsel and consultation with Veterans and interdisciplinary teams.This position also requires close visual acuity to perform an activity such as: preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; extensive reading; and repetitive motions of the wrists, hands, and/or fingers.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address Long Beach VA Medical Center 5901 East Seventh Street Long Beach, CA 90822 US
• Name: Lindsay Tillery
• Phone: (909) 583-6547
• Email: [email protected]